For this week's blog response, please choose one of the Archigram projects described in words and images in the article and briefly reflect on the form and content of the work.
I am intrigued by the piece "Walking City". The juxtaposition of the concept of a movealbe city within the scattered context of American/European Urban-suburban landscapes sheds an interesting light on the nature of how modern cities have developed. The sub-urban spawl is to me quite scatterd and schizophrenic while at the same time the idea of a moveable city is terrifying in its implications. This piece to me illustrates the complexity of the Archigram phrase "A house is a machine for living in."
The living pod is a house with "attached machines" that can sit in the landscape or be plugged into a larger structure. All of the ideas for the technological additions are really interesting... for example, the total automatic body cleansing equip., "warm section of inflating floor", or the instant transparent cocoon ring around the work machine. It's an attempt to create a house suitable or adjustable for any environment. With the kind of technology added, it promised complete comfortability. The design is opposite many of the others that emphasize mobility. An explanation aside of the image references this and the probability of a shift toward nomadic societies. Archigram seemed to sacrifice unique architecture for this future "technology" that would supposedly reign over a nomadic world and this idea of plugging into a city grid. It's interesting that the living-pod is so realistic from today's view, who wouldn't want to live in that pod with all those attachments? It's unlike the other designs that are so fantastic and unbelievable. It's ironic that it seems almost rejected by David Greene (...if the paragraphs to the right are his description) because of its immobility.
I feel that because Archigram's projects remained 'unbuilt' they continue to be romanticized and celebrated. At first I was drawn to the work's free spirit and radical and Utopian attitude. I found their projects both novel and liberating. However, if a project like 'Walking City' had been realized and put to use, as the Bauhaus school's projects were, it is my prediction that they'd be regarded as the bane of modern civilization. They did not fear technology nor the synthetic. They seem to have had an unconditional acceptance of the radical and new. Today, we remain somewhat grounded with our natural surroundings and a bit mistrusting of our technologies. The built-in flexibility of a Walking City would cost us our sense of place and connection to the land we live on. Living on the moon sounds more hospitable to me.
Ideas such as the Walking City intended to solve problems like intra and interurban transportation. This project was a massive structure consisting of interconnected, yet mobile communities. As shown by the drawings, the intended design was futuristic. The modules that made up this city would be known as plug in “capsules.” Within the community, there were various parts, including a living pod, mobile village, and auto-environment. The living pod consisted of inner satellites, capable of also moving outside. The mobile village was considered to be an organism that was once a building and vehicle. The auto-environment relates to the performance of the system, consisting of various panels and surfaces. These ideas led to discussions on homes vs. cars and whether there was a need for a fixed place at all. Although the concepts behind this project seem futuristic and self-contained, it would take away from the personalized space of today’s lifestyle.
Walking City struck me as an obvious inspiration for Howl's Moving Castle, an awesome Japanese animated film by Hayao Miyazaki. The mobility of an entire civilization would allow the constant shift of populations between each other and around the world. From the images, they seem robotic/military based, in terms of material/structure/appearance, which suggests a certain function of defense and self-containment. Spreading antennae connect the cities to each other and allow transference of inhabitants and supplies. The living pods would create a way for individual communities existing within the larger Walking City to pass from place to place, and also move beyond the Walking Cities. Overall, it's a very idealistic (dystopic?) concept, hence the reference of Howl's Moving Castle, a dream-film that captures the castle(Walking City) as a shambling/tumble-down creature of great mystery.
I am intrigued by the piece "Walking City". The juxtaposition of the concept of a movealbe city within the scattered context of American/European Urban-suburban landscapes sheds an interesting light on the nature of how modern cities have developed. The sub-urban spawl is to me quite scatterd and schizophrenic while at the same time the idea of a moveable city is terrifying in its implications. This piece to me illustrates the complexity of the Archigram phrase "A house is a machine for living in."
ReplyDeleteThe living pod is a house with "attached machines" that can sit in the landscape or be plugged into a larger structure. All of the ideas for the technological additions are really interesting... for example, the total automatic body cleansing equip., "warm section of inflating floor", or the instant transparent cocoon ring around the work machine. It's an attempt to create a house suitable or adjustable for any environment. With the kind of technology added, it promised complete comfortability.
ReplyDeleteThe design is opposite many of the others that emphasize mobility. An explanation aside of the image references this and the probability of a shift toward nomadic societies. Archigram seemed to sacrifice unique architecture for this future "technology" that would supposedly reign over a nomadic world and this idea of plugging into a city grid. It's interesting that the living-pod is so realistic from today's view, who wouldn't want to live in that pod with all those attachments? It's unlike the other designs that are so fantastic and unbelievable. It's ironic that it seems almost rejected by David Greene (...if the paragraphs to the right are his description) because of its immobility.
I feel that because Archigram's projects remained 'unbuilt' they continue to be romanticized and celebrated. At first I was drawn to the work's free spirit and radical and Utopian attitude. I found their projects both novel and liberating. However, if a project like 'Walking City' had been realized and put to use, as the Bauhaus school's projects were, it is my prediction that they'd be regarded as the bane of modern civilization. They did not fear technology nor the synthetic. They seem to have had an unconditional acceptance of the radical and new. Today, we remain somewhat grounded with our natural surroundings and a bit mistrusting of our technologies. The built-in flexibility of a Walking City would cost us our sense of place and connection to the land we live on. Living on the moon sounds more hospitable to me.
ReplyDeleteIdeas such as the Walking City intended to solve problems like intra and interurban transportation. This project was a massive structure consisting of interconnected, yet mobile communities. As shown by the drawings, the intended design was futuristic. The modules that made up this city would be known as plug in “capsules.” Within the community, there were various parts, including a living pod, mobile village, and auto-environment. The living pod consisted of inner satellites, capable of also moving outside. The mobile village was considered to be an organism that was once a building and vehicle. The auto-environment relates to the performance of the system, consisting of various panels and surfaces. These ideas led to discussions on homes vs. cars and whether there was a need for a fixed place at all. Although the concepts behind this project seem futuristic and self-contained, it would take away from the personalized space of today’s lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteWalking City struck me as an obvious inspiration for Howl's Moving Castle, an awesome Japanese animated film by Hayao Miyazaki. The mobility of an entire civilization would allow the constant shift of populations between each other and around the world. From the images, they seem robotic/military based, in terms of material/structure/appearance, which suggests a certain function of defense and self-containment. Spreading antennae connect the cities to each other and allow transference of inhabitants and supplies. The living pods would create a way for individual communities existing within the larger Walking City to pass from place to place, and also move beyond the Walking Cities. Overall, it's a very idealistic (dystopic?) concept, hence the reference of Howl's Moving Castle, a dream-film that captures the castle(Walking City) as a shambling/tumble-down creature of great mystery.
ReplyDelete